NVIDIA has today launched the latest version of its “Game Ready” graphics driver lineup with the 446.14 WHQL drivers. This release brings mostly performance optimizations and bug fixes for the video game Valorant. In addition to these performance optimizations and fixes, optimal support for Minecraft Dungeons, Disintegration, and Crucible is included. An important new feature update is the inclusion of Variable Rate Supersampling (VRSS) support for Onward. NVIDIA has also fixed driver installation issues on Colorful GeForce GTX 1650 that may have bugged some users of the cards.

The Italian navy tech tree and dozens of other military vehicles join the battle

Gaijin Entertainment announces the release of the “Starfighters” Content Update (Watch Video) for the military online action game War Thunder. The Italian Navy tech tree with 20+ torpedo boats, destroyers and cruisers is only the tip of the iceberg here, as the game is also getting dozens of other war machines, including the legendary F-104 Starfighter and the Mirage IIIC fighter jets. The cross-platform multiplayer feature has also been drastically improved by adding cross-console matchmaking. Finally all PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One players will be able to play together with friends in all War Thunder modes no matter which platform each one of them is using.

The F-104 development started during the Korean war, the jet saw action in Vietnam as part of the US Air Force and was bought by the militaries of thirteen other countries. Two American and several international versions of this fighter are available in War Thunder right now. For example, the F-104A, the first production version of the Starfighter, is equipped with a six-barrel M61 Vulcan rotary cannon and can use two Sidewinder missiles. Later versions have a better engine and more weapon loadout options. These highly improved machines remained part of the Italian Air Force until 2004.

The French Mirage IIIC is another signature fighter jet of the same era and also the first European aircraft that managed to exceed speeds of Mach 2 in level flight. Furthermore, the Mirage IIIC in interceptor loadout has an extra SEPR 844 rocket engine generating additional thrust. The aircraft can carry a vast array of weapons, most notably a variety of AAM’s, as well as unguided rockets and bombs. Apart from French service, the Mirage IIIC also saw extensive use with the Israeli Air Force during the Six Day War as well as the Yom Kippur War of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Some of the Israeli Mirages were later on sold to Argentina, which in turn used its Mirages in the Falklands War of the 1980’s.

The update also features the first ground vehicle in War Thunder with a sophisticated radar detecting ground targets, which is 9P157 Khrizantema – the Soviet tank destroyer on a BMP-3 chassis. Having both radar and thermal sights allows Khrizantema to easily spot enemies and launch two anti-tank missiles at two different targets at the same time. Other interesting new vehicles are the modern Japanese Type 93 light SAM system mounted on an SUV-style chassis and a Bangladeshi Type 69-IIG main battle tank – basically a Chinese Type 69 modification with extra reactive armor and longer gun barrel.

With the new vehicles brought by the “Starfighters” Update, the total number of military vehicles in War Thunder now exceeds 1,700. The full list of changes in the Update is available on the official website.

With Field of Glory: Empires, players conquered the Mediterranean in the Roman era. Now, it’s time to travel further back into the past. Slitherine and AGEOD’s 4X Grand Strategy game, given a “Very Positive” rating by players on Steam, is releasing its very first DLC today, on May 21st: Persia 550-330 BCE will transport players to the era of Persia’s lightning-fast ascension from a humble kingdom to one of the largest empires history has ever known.

To celebrate this important event, Field of Glory: Empires is 30% off for an entire week! Hurry up, the offer ends at 5 pm BST of May 28th.

Like Cyrus the Great, players will overthrow their powerful neighbours: Media, ancient Babylon with her mighty cities, and Lydia, with riches beyond any wildest dream. Not far from Persia, Athens and Sparta are vying for supremacy over the Hellenic world – soon, the Achaemenid Empire will be on a collision course with the Greeks.

Players wishing to take on the ultimate challenge can start as an unknown underdog, maybe a modest Italian city or the newly founded Carthage, still far from being the vast Empire seen in the original game, forging their rise to glory from even the lowliest of beginnings.

Published in July 2019, Field of Glory: Empires is a deeply intricate Grand Strategy game set in the Mediterranean’s Classical Age. The player rules one of the 70+ factions present in the game, from the mighty Rome, Macedonia, or Carthage to the tiny Etruscii, Nabatene or Britonae.

Whichever faction they choose, the player can lead it to conquer the known world, building cities, studying new technologies, and fighting enemies from across antiquity. Field of Glory: Empires is distinct in the genre because of features like “decadence”, undermining even the greatest empire, or the ability to export battles to fight tactically in Field of Glory II, Slitherine’s battle simulator.

Learn what is Field of Glory: Empires in less than two minutes – promised!

Each nation will have a new set of tools to further its goals, and distinct regional decisions particular to each faction. Persia, Athens and Sparta have their own individual choices to make.

Special natural sites can creatively hamper development until the player fixes the issue, whilst boons are the more positive opposite of these impediments – they’re rarer, but make certain regions even more unique.

Do not expect to play Persia as you play Athens or Lydia. Each will play differently, from events, missions and national modifiers to special units and specific buildings.

As in Field of Glory: Empires, players will be able to export their battles to the wargame simulator Field of Glory II and fight them with the deeper, tactical engine.

More information is available on the official Field of Glory: Empires – Persia 550 – 330 BCEwebpage.

Ubisoft announces Operation Steel Wave, the second season of year five for Rainbow Six: Siege. They don’t specify when this update will officially launch, but they do say the test server will go live tomorrow if you want to check it out before it does. The new season will bring two new operators, new gadgets, a reworked house map, and gameplay changes, all shown off in this trailer. Here are all the details:

Today, during the remote livestream reveal, Ubisoft announced the full details of the second season of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege Year 5. Operation Steel Wave introduces Ace and Melusi, a new Attacker and Defender from Norway and South Africa, in addition to an entirely reworked House map and slew of gameplay changes.

Norwegian Attacker Ace and South African Defender Melusi are the two new Operators coming in Operation Steel Wave. As a part of the Norwegian Home Guard, Ace acquired a heroic reputation. After being accepted into the Forsvarets Spesialkommando, on a joint UN operation in Somalia, Ace emerged saving Kali’s life. The offer to join NIGHTHAVEN swiftly followed. Ace is equipped with S.E.L.M.A., a throwable and stickable device that will stick to any vertical surface and slowly destroy up to 3 panels, one after the other. The S.E.L.M.A. gadget can also be thrown at almost any defensive gadget and destroy it with its arms or water explosive.

Comanche’s second Early Access update is now live and brings some new content, including a full new single-player mission, plus addressing popular requests from the community.

In the singleplayer mission, the player is tasked with a covert operation to dismantle the plans of Kude Core, the antagonist faction, deep within enemy territory. To achieve this he will be operating the Ghost Comanche to avoid detection and needs to pick his fights well to succeed.

Check out these latest hardware announcements for today from around the web. Also included are some hardware news bits, and on some days, a few rumors tossed in for good measure. Click on the links below to read the official press release, visit the products web page, or to an independent news source.

Blood Count, the thrilling second chapter in the “Hell Cult” campaign is out today on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, the Epic Games Store and Stadia.

Take on Transylvanian undead and SS cultists as you break into an abandoned castle. Unravel mysteries of the occult and drill deep into the crypt’s darkest secrets!

Check out the new Blood Counttrailer, offering a teasing glimpse of what’s to come in the concluding chapter – what manner of evil lurks beneath the surface…?

As well as the new campaign mission, there’s a ton of new content out today for Rebellion’s co-op shooter, and plenty to satisfy anyone’s blood-thirst!

In addition to the Blood Count campaign mission, new content out today includes:

▪ Renegade Officer Character

▪ Bloodsoaked Weapon Skins

▪ Gas Mask Headgear Bundle

▪ Mortar Shotgun Bundle

The Zombie Army 4 Season 1 Pass offers access to ALL Season 1 content including Blood Count. It’s available to purchase now on all platforms and it’s also included in the Zombie Army 4: Super Deluxe Edition. Content can also be bought individually.

For more info, please visit the official Zombie Army 4: Dead Warwebsite.

More than 20 Italian torpedo boats, destroyers and cruisers will join the online battles

Gaijin Entertainment announces that the Italian Navy arrives to the military online action game War Thunder very soon. The game will get more than 20 signature Italian warships that served Italy in the 20th century. The testing of the Regia Marina tech tree will begin in a few weeks, with the release of the next major Content Update.

War Thunder players will get a chance to try a diverse range of warships, starting from small torpedo boats and gunships right up to the Trento heavy cruiser. Though the WW2 era Italian navy had some highly autonomous and seaworthy huge ships capable of projecting force in deep ocean waters, a significant part of the forces were meant to fight quite close to their bases. It’s no surprise that in the end, all the Italian naval victories happened in the Mediterranean sea and were either convoy attack or convoy defence missions. For example, MS class torpedo boats sank the British HMS Manchester cruiser and five other ships during Operation Pedestal near Malta. On another occasion, the Turbine-class Espero destroyer achieved fame when it’s crew sacrificed themselves to ensure that the other convoy ships delivered military supplies to Tobruk.

With the Content Update release, players will get access to the closed beta testing of the Italian Navy (or Regia Marina as it was named during the war) and unlock content by completing daily tasks within the game. Purchasing one of the two available pre order packs will give access to the entire Italian navy research in the tech tree right after the Update is available. One of the packs contains the P 420 Sparviero hydrofoil attack with a 76mm autocannon built at the beginning of 1970’s. The other pack is all about the 1942 version of Geniere destroyer with five 120 mm cannon and two triple torpedo launchers.

The Content Update will also feature ground, sea and air military vehicles for other countries that will be announced later. Follow the news at the official War Thunder website to get the latest information on this.

HONK! Watch out: Act II is coming through and brings with it new missions, customization elements, and the return of tank horns

Last month, World of Tanks detailed plans for its upcoming 10th anniversary, and on the road to the big celebration in August, there will be many activities taking place as parts of “Acts”. On May 18, Act II will bring with it the return of a never-before-released feature which was part of one Common Test almost 9 years ago: the tank horn. While players are honking on the battlefield, they’ll also be able to enjoy a fresh set of anniversary missions, brand-new customization elements and much more!

Each of the thematic Acts revolve around a certain part of World of Tanks’ deep history, and Act II’s Time Warp will reintroduce the tank horn, seen briefly in 2011. For veterans, it will be a welcome return of an amusing feature from the game’s archives, and for those who are completely new to the concept, it’ll be something interesting to get to grips with.

“It was a strange request from the World of Tanks team. We normally work on staple battlefield sounds: shells, engines, metal hitting metal. It’s almost 9 years since we last worked with horns,” states Slava Skadorva, Audio Design Team Lead. “They wanted us to create special ones for the anniversary activities; it may be something a little different from our usual work, but we know the players are going to love it!”

Tankers can use the horns to let their teammates know they’re coming through. However, everyone—including enemies—within a 200m radius may be able to hear this unique form of battle cry. Depending on a player’s vehicle mass, they will hear one of three different horns which were created from scratch (as real-life tank horns, while historical, are hard to find) by Wargaming’s audio team. Tank horns will be available for one week only from May 18 until May 25.

“Players have been really enjoying the anniversary activities of Act I in a way we couldn’t even imagine. Many of them have regaled others with stories and memories from the old days of World of Tanks,” states Max Chuvalov, Publishing Director, World of Tanks. “Act I brought back General Chat, which tankers absolutely loved, and we hope that they’ll welcome the return of the tank horn with open arms. What’s coming next? You’ll see.”

Get more information about all the 10th anniversary celebrations HERE.

BAFTA nominated developer Firefly Studios has revealed new units coming to Stronghold: Warlords, the upcoming entry in their classic ‘castle sim’ series. With the ability to land precision strikes, instantly clear walls of Archers, or simply deal high damage with powerful weapons, each unit introduces a new set of tactics.

Samurai
With the ability to charge down enemies foolish enough to stand in their way and eliminate high priority units like Generals with their Precision Strike, Samurai have a unique role to play in the game. True to their historical roots, these disciplined feudal fighters are best used in combat against priority targets or to quickly shut down foes with powerful abilities of their own. With a steady movement speed and weakness to gunpowder, they are however susceptible to swarms of cavalry and gunpowder-fuelled missile fire.

Imperial Guardsman
An expensive but valuable unit, the heavy mace-wielding Imperial Guardsman will make a serious dent in any enemy siege force. Able to build up a Heavy Attack while in combat, the Guardsmen can then deal area damage in a wide arc when triggered. The Guardsmen can quickly tip the scales in your favour mid-siege—use him to clear castle walls, crush unarmoured skirmish troops, or dismantle siege weapons.

Imperial Warrior
While the Imperial Warrior lacks a unique ability like that of the Samurai or Guardsman, he makes up for it with a high armour rating and damage output thanks to his weapons of choice. Resistant to Archer fire, Fire Lancers, and all but the heaviest siege weapons, the Imperial Warrior should form part of the front line in any castle siege or any large scale open field battle.

Scheduled for release on Steam later this year, players can find out more about Stronghold: Warlords by visiting the game’s official website.

About Stronghold: Warlords

The latest ‘castle sim’ RTS from Firefly Studios, Stronghold: Warlords allows you to recruit, upgrade and command AI warlords across the battlefield. Each warlord under your command boosts your strategic prowess with their own unique perks, characteristics and upgradeable abilities. Use them to boost your industry, fortify defences or team up for a pincer attack! Each campaign mission, skirmish game and multiplayer battle means a fresh set of warlords to command and new strategic depth. Stronghold: Warlords is Firefly’s first game to recreate the castle economies of the Far East, allowing you to command Mongol hordes, imperial warriors and samurai clansmen as you lay siege to Japanese castles and fortified Chinese cities. Besiege historical warlords using new gunpowder-fuelled siege weapons and a completely new way to play Stronghold.